


If You Were Rain, I'd Be The Drought

by AnnyFay



Category: Formula 1 RPF, Rush (2013)
Genre: Comedy, F1 - Freeform, Gay Sex, Irony, Launt, M/M, Rathunt - Freeform, Sarcasm, or something like that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 19:56:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8591518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnyFay/pseuds/AnnyFay
Summary: In which Niki wakes up and finds out he'll have to spend an entire day without telling any lie.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For some unknown reason I've been having these weird af ideas for Launt fanfics. Anyway, they're pretty funny to write, so here it is!  
> Yay

He has been sleeping poorly since the day he agreed to move in to James' flat. The branch of noises one can do in the middle of the night while having sex is something worth a monograph, and Niki could work on it.

He is annoyed by each and any of the blond's habits, such as leaving wet towels everywhere except where they're supposed to be; ordering pizza when it's his turn to wash the dishes so he doesn't have to; mocking of Niki's lame behaviour around women; giving Hesketh permission to hold private parties at their flat; and, worst of all, being undeniably handsome. Niki has been having a hard time keeping his focus on somewhere - or someone - else.

The alarm goes off. It's 5 a.m and Niki somehow managed to sleep for four hours straight. From what he heard during the night, James' companion was deeply offended after he got her name wrong for the second time. She left early, so Niki slept through the rest of the night like he hasn't done for a while.

When he enters the kitchen, there is an enthusiastic and clumsy James Hunt making waffles for breakfast. And what else can Niki expect from this day?

He sits at one of the stools placed in front of the counter just on the other side of the oven where James moves frantically and Niki is quite admired there's not a single waffle hanging on the ceiling.

"Why are you up this early?"

"Is this a Niki exclusive thing?" James replies with a smirk on his face. Niki rolls eyes, but it only makes James’ smile grow wider. He is in need of insulting the Englishman, but the only thing that comes out of his pursed lips is:

“It’s nice of you… all of this” He gestures to the plate recently put in front of him and seems sincerely grateful. After noticing what he has just said, Niki lets a gaspp escape from his mouth. James is looking at him, curiosity running down his grin.

“The thing is, ratty, sometimes I can be nice.” Hunt bends over the counter, just a little too closer to the brunette. Niki flushes, keeps seriously focused on his coffee mug.

“I have to go.” He takes a waffle to eat in his way to the circuit. Only a few steps from the door, he turns in the other’s direction and says: “In fact, I don’t really have to go. The reason I always leave before you wake up is because I’m constantly anxious around you and I don’t know how to cope with that.”

Niki leaves immediately after that and considers seeing an exorcist.

 

~

 

“Ronnie, I think I might be possessed by a demon”

The blond stares at him exactly as if someone has just said what he, indeed, heard. Niki is not the type of person who fools around, who talks rubbish or even uses hyperboles to explain a situation. Niki gives clear-cut answer and goes straight to the point when he has a problem.

So when Niki Lauda tells you he is possessed by a demon, you sit and listen carefully.

“What made you think so?” The mechanics are fussing around their March cars and Ronnie inspects their movements while leaning against a desk of garage equipments.

“This morning, it felt like someone else was picking the words I’d say” Niki heads outwards the garage, being followed by a rather sceptical, yet somehow curious Swedish driver. “It’s like I’m forbidden of lying. Or omitting. Or even distorting the truth.”

"You can't be serious." Ronnie is well aware of the dangers in questioning the Austrian's word, and that's probably why he keeps a safe distance between the two of them.

"Anyway, if that's so, I don't see a real problem." He adds, chuckling. Niki is visibly consternated, so the Swedish goes ahead, crossing his arms:

"Well, you're one of the most honest persons I've ever met. People don't usually realise that, but most of the times we lie because the truth can be harsh or because we don't have the balls to say it. And I must admit, Niki, you don't care about feelings in general. You're not a liar."

"I know, Ronnie. And yet, there's one thing I'm not completely honest about." Niki quickly retorts, then facepalms himself "Fuck."

"What?" Ronnie suppresses a laugh, knows it wouldn't do any good to tease the brunette just before a race.

Niki curls his lips as if fighting to withhold the sentences being built up inside his mouth, willing to be spilled out with such intensity that he lets them go with a sigh. "More like who."

Ronnie throws at him a wry look. "Are you telling me or what?"

"James."

Niki cringes at his involuntary answer. Ronnie gives him a glance, pretending to be extremely shocked, and then suddenly changes his expression to an ironic look, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you mean that thing everyone pretends not to know about and you pretend not to know that we know about?"

"Damn." Niki groans like a toddler. Had he foreseen the shit he would have to pull through the day, he probably wouldn't have even got out of bed.

Ronnie is definitely having the funniest time. He does his best not to ponder exaggeratedly about the Austrian's situation and how insane it sounds, and gradually it becomes both acceptable and enjoyable.

"So what exactly happened this morning?" He presses on.

Niki feels as though the phrases are scratching his throat, urging to be spoken. He leans against the wall outside the building, doesn’t consider showing Ronnie how of a wreck he is. His face still carries a solid mien, and he struggles to keep things that way whilst responding to the blond’s question:

 "He made me waffles and I melted."

 

~

 

“Why are you avoiding me?”

James is undoubtedly following him at the parking lot. Niki doesn’t answer and bites his lower lip to keep the words from slipping out of his mouth. He speeds up a little bit, tries not to think about his quirkiness.

Niki doesn’t go farther; he’s pulled back brutally by the blond who has his fingers grasping tightly the collar of his leather jacket. The look on James’ face has Niki taken aback. He’s pretty sure the other never seemed so perplex, so unsettled. He wonders if this is not just a reflex of his own expression.

“Is this because of the results we’re achieving? Are you pissed at me because March sucks?”

Niki takes note mentally to later retaliate James for saying such a thing, but he’s more concerned with the reply he feels compelled to give – forced by the infinite amount of pain dwelling in his stomach as excitement grows stronger and he can no longer hide the weariness.

“Fuck, James. I’m not avoiding you because of that. I’m ashamed, sure, I’m fucking embarrassed but that’s not the reason.” Niki tries his best to delay the truth ripping his guts, but it becomes harder the more he stares into the Englishman’s glaucous eyes. “I have this huge crush on you and today I woke up and I, seriously, I couldn’t say one world that wasn’t true, so you kept asking me things and Ronnie kept teasing me and this is nuts, but I…”

“You what?” James holds him by the shoulders to secure they are still in the same planet, and then he notices how short the Austrian is compared to himself.

“I’m completely, absolutely forbidden of telling any lie.”

“No, not that! Did you say you’re in love with me?” Niki can feel the outrage in his voice and is too scared to nod, or tell otherwise. He stays there, petrified, gazing into James’ eyes.

“I said I have a crush on you, which is a totally different thing.” The Austrian uses his typical lecture tone of voice, and James can’t help but let go a giggle. Niki mumbles _arschloch_. "That's why I didn't want to tell you. You never take things seriously."

The tantrum in his voice only makes it worse as James' smile widens and Niki feels compelled to punch those perfect teeth and dreamy eyes.

"How should I react, Lauda? Should I ask you out?" James suddenly realizes the blush on the other's face is growing stronger, as though his head would eventually explode. James can't help but feel partially guilty for bantering him, so he rushes forward and holds the brunette's chin with the tip of his frigid fingers. "Or should I…?"

They kiss, and Niki is a mess. And James is the most messed up person he has ever met. And he hates it when the noises from the blond's room keep him awake all night. And he can't stand it when they go out for a drink and he ends up having to carry James around because he's too drunk to even remember how to walk. And Niki has, indeed, been in love with him for ages and he cannot recall the moment he realized it between parties he was forced to go and nights he spent listening to all sorts of sounds pointing to the inevitable fact that James wasn't the right person to fall in love with.

But Niki is stubborn, and somehow, he managed to do so.

Their lips are slowly blending into one another. Niki loses breath, can’t keep the groans from bursting out of his throat. James’ hands are everywhere – on his back, his cheekbones, his unkempt hair, and then down his pants.

“We’re going too fast.” Niki mumbles when James shifts his attention to the solemn purpose of unzipping the other’s jeans.

They’re still in the middle of the parking lot and this is clearly not a good idea.

“When did it become troubling?” The blond jokes and continues his task. Niki wants to protest, but he has also yearned for that for so long he almost forgot how it felt not being in love with Hunt. It’ll be his death, he thinks gravely. It’s not supposed to happen at all, but neither are any of the events of that day.

Niki can’t lie.

“I don’t trust you” The Austrian finally replies, taking a step back by pushing James with a hand on his chest. “Well, I don’t really trust anybody, but specifically you because you’re the only one who can get me out of my mind, and because I’m always concerned with what you may think of me even though I don’t actually give a damn about your opinion and you are full of shit, Hunt.”

“This thing of only telling the truth… It’s for real, isn’t it?” James says and his expression changes to something extremely close to staidness. Niki nods frantically, clearly upset or even frustrated. “I _do like you_ , Niki. I’m not full of shit.”

He runs his fingers through the other’s hair. It’s warm.

“We should probably go.” Niki breaks the atmosphere. He avoids James’ gaze.

“Can you give me a ride?” The blond asks. Niki doesn’t reply, just turns around and starts walking towards his brand new Chevette.

James follows him.

 

~

 

Niki gives James the worst blowjob and the best orgasm of his life.

Hunt forbids himself on being too harsh on him. There are plenty of reasons for his inexperience, for the way he keeps grazing his prominent teeth against the extent of James’ cock or the way he sucks him off whilst speaking to himself in German. It goes awfully, and still, Hunt is obliged to grasp the headboard bars and purse his lips until he can feel them swelling up a little bit.

He has never been so turned on, in fact.

"Have you ever…?"

"No" the Austrian replies, and his tone of voice tenders James' advances.

The blond suddenly stops. He's not one for hesitation. Nevertheless, Niki is not one for any of James' habits. They realized just about a minute ago their fashioned methods wouldn't work on either one of them or the other.

"Uh, condoms?" Niki asks, looking inquisitively to James. He frowns, still trying to catch his breath after quite a _petite mort_.

"Shit, I have none"

"What do you mean you have none?" Niki’s accent is always at its finest when he’s about to commit a murder.

"I don't use it! I take it off before…"

"Fuck, spare me the details, Hunt."

They freeze and look at each other for an instant. The images being built up inside Niki’s mind make his face writhe in disgust. James, otherwise, finds it hilarious and laughs nimbly.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, darling"

"Right, there are some inside the first drawer in the bathroom" Niki mumbles, clearly bummed and slightly less turned on. James is quick, comes back before the Austrian has time to reason and finally convinces himself of the predictable mistake he's about to make.

"For the quantity I found, it's safe to say you had no fun in the past six… years." James giggles. He can see from the corner of his eyes the way Niki rolls his. The brunette stays quiet, doesn't swear or hisses. For a moment, the room becomes a mausoleum filled with silent confessions. There is no way they're going to say it out loud, anyway.                       

Because sometimes Niki doesn't know if it's a lie or the truth. He doesn't know if what he feels is subjective to his own foolish thoughts or if it's an undesirable reality he always finds himself prone to escape from.

James gets between his legs, starts to push himself into Niki. He grips his thighs and holds them just a little bit higher until he's all in, then changes focus to gently pressing his face against the curve of Niki's neck. His hips are bent in such an extreme way he can only pant, being pretty sure his ribs are no longer there. Niki feels pressurized to tell James to take it easy, to make it gentler. However, the urge, the rawness, the complete lack of control or whatever else they are experiencing keeps him from saying anything. Maybe because they're drivers, and drivers are constantly edgy, living on this thin line between insanity and brilliantness.                       

When James thrusts and hits that sweet spot, Niki feels vanishing, drifting to another state of mind where none of the things bothering his thoughts really matter. And they could be unimportant, were him at least less concerned with the aftermath. If only Niki understood there's no aftermath with James.

Clearly, the moans and the cries he hears at night are never the same.                       

He can pretend he's not already aware of that when he finishes himself off between their bodies. Niki can do that, he's still able to lie to himself. He's able to kiss James and embrace him and let him grope his waist and grind against him and mess his hair up and actually love him for a second or two because Niki is _that_ naive.

 

~

 

“I still don’t think you’re gonna want this in the morning.” Niki admits. He walks from one side to the other of the mundane bedroom. James is resting in an armchair, his languid body involved in a bathrobe. Silence fills the space between them, draws them closer and accentuates the distance.

“Will you still be conditioned to only tell the truth in the morning?” James chuckles. The Austrian winces, letting go a dry, dubious laugh. “Do you know what happened last night?”

Their eyes meet for a moment. Niki doesn’t respond, but James clearly knows he heard at least part of it.

"I called her Niki… several times"

Niki stands still just in front of the window, back turned to James. His chin drops slightly, a soft gasp escapes from his lips. A sudden urge grows in his throat… then he releases a nervous, embarrassing laugh.

"You have fantasies with me while fucking other people… this is very kind of you, James."

Niki sits on the edge of the bed, looking over his shoulder to his perplex roommate smoking a cigarette. Numbness fills his thoughts for a second, then James replies:

“There are things I don’t truly understand, so I keep quiet about them. I still believe sometimes silence is the best answer.”

The brunette ponders the words carefully, his eyes are drawn to a mundane spot on the carpet, the stain of spilled wine. He knows Hunt is right, or at least has a similar reason to his own. He keeps the truth from other people, but never deceives them. He would never hide something on fully purpose, only if he himself wasn’t sure about the veracity of it. Niki isn’t exactly a liar, he is an _omitter_.

“Have you ever slept with someone? I mean, just lying and actually sleeping?” The Austrian allows the sentence to slide smoothly from his lips, not anymore feeling compelled to restrain them.

Niki goes under the blanket, settles down on the yet warm bed. James loves it when the brunette smiles, because he rarely does. It’s like one of those eclipses he’s warned will only happen once in twenty years, so he’s always eager to see it, even if it lasts for merely a second, or even if it costs him a good night’s sleep. He has been feeling it for quite a while now.

He lies beside Niki. They agree mentally that maybe the Austrian will wake up and everything will have got back to normal, and he will once again be caught up on his own cowardice and old, damaging habits. Maybe James won’t be at his side when he wakes up. Maybe their one-night stand will wander into oblivion while races, championship and death surround them.

It’s not that important, after all.


End file.
